Doubts and Fears
by Shannon730
Summary: The Doctor is unhappy with Martha's new job and tries to change her mind. Sequel to Jealous. Martha/Ten, Jack/Ianto
1. Chapter 1

**Part 1**

The Doctor watched as they stepped out of the black SUV parked across the street from the small park where he'd agreed to meet them. He'd thought he was just meeting Jack and Martha, but there was another man with them. He searched his mind for a name, he'd definitely seen the man before but wasn't sure he'd been introduced. He worked with Jack, that's where he'd seen him; he'd been with Jack the day Harriet Jones had contacted him through the Subwave network.

He still wasn't sure why he'd called Jack instead of Martha. Sometime in the minutes it took to leave UNIT and arrive in Cardiff he'd decided to call Jack at Torchwood. He should've called Martha directly, it wasn't as if he didn't have the number, but he'd called and left a message that he wanted to meet with Jack. Of course Martha called him back. He'd pretended to not know she would be there and made arrangements to meet them both for lunch today.

He didn't have a plan, no idea what he was going to say or do. He had nothing beyond the vague idea that he needed to get Martha away from Torchwood –away from Jack. He still didn't even know why he needed to do that. She had chosen to leave him, to not travel with him anymore; she'd said she couldn't keep waiting for him. She was right, she needed her own life with someone that could love her and be what she wanted and needed. He couldn't do that; he couldn't live a normal human existence, because he wasn't human. And he didn't want that kind of life with Martha anyway, did he? He'd never let himself fall in love with a human before. Well, Rose, but that was different, and over; she was gone with his regeneration now, as it should be.

So if he didn't want that life with Martha, why was he here? Why not let her get on with her own life? Work at Torchwood Three and help Jack to make a difference? Again he felt that surge of…something…course through him. He couldn't quite identify it, but it was a feeling that seemed to be associated with his friends and their relationship to Jack quite often. They all looked at him like…it was just that they all did it and then he'd feel like this and that would make him angry and he'd do things that he knew were wrong, like leaving Jack behind on that satellite. It was wrong, and he knew that. Yeah, he knew that Jack had changed that day, Rose bringing him back had done something, but Jack was a good person and leaving him there was wrong. He hadn't cared at that moment. All that mattered that day was Rose looking at him and only him and not at Jack. So he'd left him. Rose didn't know he'd been alive and hadn't asked, so they'd left. There was a nagging voice in the back of his head telling him he knew exactly what that feeling was, exactly why he'd left Jack behind, exactly why he was here to try to take Martha away. But he was going to ignore that voice. He didn't get jealous, it was ridiculous.

***

Jack opened Martha's door and offered her his arm as Ianto came around the SUV to stand beside them. "Ready then?" he asked.

"Sure, I wish he'd just told us on the phone what he wanted," Martha answered as they started walking. "You said he'd never called you before…"

"No," Jack agreed. "And I still don't know why he did now. The only abnormal rift activity we found was what was obviously the TARDIS landing and refueling."

They'd been discussing little else since getting the Doctor's message that morning. Even when Martha called him back, he'd not said anything beyond wanting to see Jack for lunch and expressing surprise at Martha's being at Torchwood at all. A fact that caused both Jack and Martha to look guiltily at each other, neither of them had thought to call and let the Doctor know she was working there now. There had been so much going on with leaving UNIT and moving from Manhattan to Cardiff and of course, catching up on all the medical work that needed to be done since Owen's death several months earlier that it had slipped Martha's mind. She should've called him; he'd gotten her the job at UNIT the least she could've done was tell him she was leaving it. Now they were here for lunch. The Doctor had suggested this park because, while it did have a few small stands where they could pick up food, it was quiet enough for them to talk without interruption. He'd said it was important.

Jack smiled over Martha's head at Ianto who was walking on the other side of her. "Ianto, you didn't have to come you know." He still wasn't sure why Ianto had joined them. Jack knew he was curious about why the Doctor was here and wanted to see him, but they would've filled him in on the meeting just like they would fill in Gwen. Ianto obviously wasn't happy about the meeting, so Jack couldn't see a reason for him to insist on joining them.

"I want to meet the Doctor." Ianto repeated the words yet again. "He's important to both you and Martha and considering I'd be a Cyberman if it wasn't for him, I don't think it's so unusual that I'd want to meet him, do you?" Jack had asked the same question so many times since he'd said he wanted to join them that Ianto was even starting to believe his own lie. He didn't want to meet the Doctor. Sure, he wasn't a Cyberman because of the Doctor but at the same time Lisa was dead because the Doctor wasn't fast enough to stop them from killing many others. Ianto was here because he wanted to meet the man that Jack had left him for not once, but twice. The man Jack and spent over a hundred years waiting for.

Ianto generally wasn't the jealous type. Being with Jack had made it a bad idea to be jealous. Usually his behaviour didn't bother Ianto, Jack flirted with…well with everyone. It was something he had to accept. The only other options were to leave Jack or spend his life in a jealous rage. But the Doctor was different. Jack had loved this man enough to spend a hundred years waiting for him to return. He'd disappeared once because the Doctor had returned. He'd left them again just months ago to find him yet again. Now the Doctor was back and wanted to see Jack and that worried Ianto.

"Martha Jones!" The Doctor said, smiling as the group approached him. He pulled Martha away from Jack and into a hug. "It's fantastic to see you again. When I called Jack I had no idea you'd be here."

"What? I don't get a hug?" Jack said, grinning.

"Hello, Jack," the Doctor said as he released Martha and quickly hugged Jack as well.

"Doctor, do you know Ianto Jones?" Martha asked, pulling Ianto closer.

"I haven't had the pleasure. You work for Torchwood as well?"

"Yes," Ianto answered, extending a hand to the Doctor. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Jack watched the exchange with a frown. Ianto was obviously not pleased to see the Doctor. He'd go so far as to say that he'd rather the Doctor was nowhere near Cardiff, possibly this planet, at the moment.

"Doctor, you still haven't told us why you called."

He hadn't told him, mostly because he knew he couldn't say he was here and had called Jack because he wanted him to stay away from Martha. That Martha was his and Jack had no right to offer her a job. He couldn't say that because he did know enough about human women to know that Martha would not take any of that in the way he intended, and because Martha wasn't his. He had been too caught up in missing Rose for too long and had lost that chance long ago. "Oh, there's time for that after we eat," he replied. "Shall we find a table?"

Stalling until they were eating would at least give him a short while longer to come up with a valid reason for contacting Torchwood. He wondered if Jack would believe he just missed him and wanted to have lunch with an old friend. Probably not, seeing that Jack had been here for years and he'd never bothered before, and had even told Jack he'd wanted to stay away from him because he was wrong; he shouldn't exist.

They quickly picked up their food from the small stand and found a small table. As Jack began to slide into the seat next to the Doctor, Ianto said, "You should let Martha sit with the Doctor."

"Of course," Jack said, stepping back and letting Martha slide into the space as he moved over and slid in next to Ianto.

They all ate in silence for several minutes, everyone trying to find ways to accomplish the goals they had in mind when they agreed to attend this meeting. The Doctor still didn't have an acceptable explanation for calling Jack. Ianto was still trying to assure himself that the Doctor was not back for Jack and that Jack wasn't going to leave him again. Martha and Jack were busy trying to figure out why the doctor was in town, if he was at all angry over her career change, and how they could justify the fact that neither of them thought to call him.

Finally, the Doctor broke the silence. "Martha, did I understand correctly today you are working for Torchwood now, not just assisting but actually working with Jack?"

"Yeah," she admitted. "After we came back from…when you dropped us back here in Cardiff, Jack offered me a job. It's not that the job at UNIT wasn't wonderful - I owe you so much for getting me the job but it's all so impersonal and military and I really feel like I can do more good here."

"You just offered her a job out of the blue, then?" The Doctor asked, turning his attention to Jack.

"Out of the blue, no," Jack answered, "Martha's a wonderful doctor, you know that. She knows what's out there and understands what we do."

"Of course she is," the Doctor agreed immediately. Maybe he'd overreacted to finding out she was here. Maybe Jack had no ulterior motives.

"And it never hurts to surround yourself with beautiful women," Jack added grinning, "who kiss so wonderfully."

Ianto groaned, Jack was baiting the Doctor, he was sure of it; he wanted to get that jealous reaction from him. Jack still had a thing for him, just as Ianto had suspected. He had to do something about this, find a way to keep the Doctor away from Jack.

The Doctor's eyes narrowed. When had Jack kissed Martha? Why had he kissed her? Didn't she have a fiancé? This just confirmed that he wasn't wrong; he needed to get Martha to come away with him again.

Martha's eyes widened in surprise at Jack's last statement. Coming from anyone other than Jack, she'd have been angry and offended. She'd have thought he was demeaning her work as a doctor. But Jack was being Jack, so she let it go. She didn't even know why the comment took her by surprise, but what shocked her even more was the anger on the Doctor's face and on Ianto's when he'd said it. If she didn't know better, she'd swear they were both jealous.

That didn't make sense though. To be jealous of Jack would mean the Doctor thought of her as more than a friend, and he didn't. Most of the time, he barely noticed she existed, so he certainly wasn't in love with her. And Ianto—why would he be jealous of her? Jack loved Ianto; he might not say it often but anyone could see it was true. Ianto knew Jack was teasing about the kiss; it was just one time over a year ago, a good-bye kiss, nothing more.

Jack watched all three of them, his grin fading. That comment certainly wasn't received the way he'd thought it would be. It was a joke. So why did everyone but Martha look as if they were going to kill someone—likely him—first chance they had?


	2. Chapter 2

**Part 2**

Jack was leading the way back to the SUV after lunch, followed closely by Ianto, Martha and the Doctor. Martha and the Doctor were discussing the differences between her job at Torchwood and the one for UNIT. Jack had enjoyed seeing the Doctor again, especially as a social visit not and because the world was in immediate danger. It was a pleasant change. He did wonder about Ianto's strange behaviour though. Every time he'd gotten near the Doctor, Ianto had made a point of interrupting or getting between them. The Doctor wasn't behaving any better; he'd done the same thing every time Jack had gotten near Martha.

"Jack?"

"Yeah, Gwen," he said, pressing his ear piece on. Behind him everyone stopped walking as Ianto and Martha mimicked Jack's movements to listen as well.

"We've got two Weevils, a few blocks away from you."

"Two?"

"Yeah, they're not together though," Gwen answered. "One a couple blocks north of you and the other to the south."

"We're on it," he answered and disconnected before turning to Martha and Ianto. "You two armed?

"Of course," Ianto replied.

"Sorry, no."

"Right," Jack frowned. He knew the Doctor wouldn't be armed. "Doctor you up for a Weevil hunt?"

"I don't…"

"He doesn't mean kill them," Martha added. "We just catch them."

"Oh. Well then I don't see why not," the Doctor agreed.

"Then Ianto, why don't you take Martha…"

"Martha is still being trained," Ianto pointed out, "She should go with you."

Jack and the Doctor both frowned, but just for different reasons. The Doctor did not want Martha alone with Jack, and Jack was confused by Ianto's odd behavior. Ianto was perfectly capable of training Martha in a Weevil hunt.

"Fine. Martha's with me," Jack said, not wanting to waste time arguing. He began grabbing items from the SUV, tossing a few of them to Martha."We'll go north. Ianto, you and the Doctor take the SUV and head south."

***

The Doctor followed Ianto through the dark warehouse to which Gwen had directed them; he held the spray can in one hand, his other held the small torch in front of him. He had never heard of a Weevil, but Ianto had explained that they weren't entirely sure what its proper name was. Weevil was a name Torchwood had given them. He'd also explained that they had come through the rift and lived mostly in the sewers; Torchwood only interfered when one came up to the streets and endangered people.

The Doctor had the distinct impression that Ianto Jones did not like him very much, though he wasn't sure why. He'd never met the man, and had barely spoken to him today. Sure, the Doctor realized he had a history of being accidentally rude to people, but he really couldn't think of a single thing he'd done to offend this young man. Jack and Martha were usually very good at warning him when he was being rude.

He wasn't happy about Jack and Martha being alone together, but if Martha wasn't trained for this yet, she was safer with Jack than anyone else. Safe from the Weevils, but not safe from Jack. He'd seen how Jack had flirted with her all through lunch. The comments and touching. It had taken all of his strength not to pull Martha away from him and back to the TARDIS.

His plan was still to take Martha with him when he left Cardiff, he just hadn't sorted out how to do so yet. Obviously he couldn't force her to leave with him. She had chosen to leave him once, said she couldn't spend her life waiting for him to notice her. He _had_ noticed her though, he just hadn't wanted to admit it. He'd let himself get involved with Rose and it ended badly, with her having to leave and him being alone…until Martha. He'd already promised himself not to let that happen again. So when she said he'd never notice her, he'd chosen to not argue— to just let her walk away. He'd watched over her though, called UNIT and arranged the job offer for her when she'd become a proper doctor. He checked in on her occasionally, just peeking in on her life. He'd always kept the mobile she'd given him close by, just in case she called, in case she changed her mind and wanted to come back. He just never let himself think about why he did so. She wasn't the first to walk away from traveling with him, and he'd never done this with anyone else. He'd always let them go their own way, but this was different. He wanted Martha to come back.

If she was involved with Jack now, he had no chance of her coming with him on her own. He couldn't compete with Jack. Not really. He didn't have Jack's charisma or ability to give her some semblance of a normal human life. In spite of the pain it might cause him, however, he needed to find out how close Martha was to Jack. He couldn't ask them, though. He needed to find another way. But right now his main concerns were the Weevil they were tracking and why Ianto Jones seemed to dislike him so desperately.

"So, Ianto," the Doctor said, "How long have you worked at Torchwood?"

"Since before Canary Warf," Ianto answered. "I worked for Torchwood One and after…after the Cybermen, I convinced Jack to hire me at Torchwood Three."

"So it's been a few years. Jack said you're the archivist and that you take care of everyone."

"Yeah," he agreed. "I do a little of everything."

The Doctor's eyes narrowed. If he could get this man to trust him, he might be the key to finding out just how involved Martha was with Jack. "So you see everything that goes on, then?"

"Yes," Ianto agreed. Why was the Doctor asking so many questions? Why did the Doctor care how long he'd been at Torchwood and what his job was?

"Are you and Jack close, then?"

"Very," Ianto answered and then put a finger over his mouth, and pointing to where he thought he'd seen movement in the distance. "If he comes after you, just use that spray. It'll keep him away. We just need to restrain him and get him to the car."

"Right," the Doctor agreed. He had been right; if anyone would be able to tell him what he was up against with Jack, it would be Ianto Jones. He'd have to work on getting him to talk more.

Ianto moved slowly forward, keeping close to the wall. He wasn't happy with having to trust the Doctor to cover his back, not just because he wasn't armed but because he simply didn't want the Doctor around at all. And the questions and friendliness…what was the Doctor doing? If he'd come here to take Jack away again, why bother being nice to Ianto?

The Doctor had told them he planned to be in town at least a week; taking a break he'd told them, catching up with old friends. That was a week too long as far as Ianto was concerned. Jack had invited him to spend as much time at the Hub with them as he wished. They generally couldn't get out much to visit; that had been his reason. So now, on top of everything else he had to do at work, he was going to have to spend time either keeping a man he couldn't stand occupied and away from Jack, or risk losing Jack to the Doctor, possibly forever.

***

"Ianto?" Jack said into his comm.

"Yeah."

"We're ready whenever you are," Jack said, then quickly gave him their location.

"We've just located ours," Ianto whispered, "Will you be all right for a bit?"

"Absolutely," Jack agreed. "Ours is out for now, and we can't be seen from the street, so we can wait. Just be careful."

Jack clicked off his comm and turned his attention to Martha, who was already examining the unconscious Weevil for injuries. Bringing her to Torchwood had been a brilliant idea; she was a fantastic doctor and was able to handle herself well in every situation. She got along with both Gwen and Ianto also, so everything had been going amazingly well for the few weeks she'd been in Cardiff.

"Is it okay?" he asked.

Martha looked up from her work. "Yeah. Seems like it. Nothing I can see wrong here, anyway; it's not a proper examination though."

Martha stood up and moved away from the Weevil. She was too distracted to do a thorough examination and it could hold until they were back at the Hub. She was really more interested in what had happened at lunch. The tension had been so high the entire meal, then just got worse when Jack had made that crack about kissing, and she still hadn't figured out why. Even Ianto, who had never shown any signs of being bothered by Jack's flirting before, had suddenly gotten very moody, and the Doctor looked as if he was going to find a way to kill Jack the first chance he had.

"Jack," she said, deciding to see if he had any idea what was going on since she was completely lost about the entire incident. "Did things seem weird to you at lunch? Tense."

"You noticed too?" Jack said, looking at her in surprise. "I thought it was just me. Ianto was acting funny from the second I mentioned that the Doctor rang. And then the Doctor—did he ever really say why he was here?"

"No, he didn't," Martha agreed. "And when you made that crack about kissing, they both…"

"Looked like they were going to kill me," Jack finished for her, raising one eyebrow in question.

"Any idea why?" Martha asked, crossing her arms trying to shield the bare skin of her arms against the growing wind. "It's not as if you don't say things like that all the time."

"Nope, wish I did. But at least we stand a chance of finding out what the Doctor wants if he's going to be here a week."

"And that's another thing," she said, moving closer to Jack and out of the wind that was starting to pick up and making her a little chilly. "Why is he here for a week? It only takes a day to refuel. Visiting old friends? Why would we believe that? He didn't know I was here and you've been here forever and he's never decided to holiday with you before."

Before Jack could answer, the Weevil started to move, waking up. Jack reached around Martha, sprayed it once more in the face, and it fell backwards.

"And what was with Ianto?" She asked, deciding to get all of her questions out before the others arrived. "He was moody all morning and then he didn't want me to sit with him at lunch or take me with him to catch the Weevil. Did I offend him?"

"I can't imagine how," Jack admitted. Noticing her rubbing her arms for warmth he asked, "Cold?"

"A little. I'll be fine though, they should be here soon."

Sighing he removed his great coat and placed it over her shoulders, pulling her closer to him and wrapping an arm around her. "Ianto hasn't said anything to me to imply he's upset with you, but he was acting odd today. I'll see if I can find out what his problem is and we can both see if we can get to the bottom of the Doctor mystery."

The SUV pulled up next to them and Ianto and the Doctor both jumped from the car. Ianto going immediately to Jack and kissing him lightly, before turning to Martha, "Enjoy your first Weevil hunt?"

"Fascinating," she said, happy he was at least speaking to her again.

"Martha," the Doctor said quickly, moving closer to Martha, "Coat's rather big on you, isn't it?"

"I was cold, Jack offered his," she said, sliding it from her shoulders, and handing it back to Jack.

"You really should remember a jacket," the Doctor admonished.

"I don't mind sharing, and she looked good in my coat," Jack said, grinning as he put the coat back on.

The Doctor's eyes narrowed. "Still, we wouldn't want you to catch cold, would we? Where would Torchwood be without Captain Jack Harkness."

"They can make it if I'm otherwise occupied for a while," Jack said, winking at the Doctor.

This time Ianto's eyes narrowed. Was Jack really discussing leaving again right there in front of him? "Jack, I can help you get the Weevil in the back so Martha can get out of the cold, and we can be back at the Hub before they wake up."

"Right," Jack agreed and moved to help Ianto while Martha and the Doctor climbed into the backseat.


	3. Chapter 3

**Part 3**

Martha pushed the door to her flat open and stepped back, letting the Doctor enter first. It was late now and she was tired. Everything about today had been surreal to her, from the Doctor's call to Ianto's moodiness. Everyone was behaving so oddly. The Doctor had spent most of the afternoon alternating between following Ianto around asking him questions, and interrupting her and Jack every time they tried to speak to each other. Finally Jack had decided that the two Weevils being so close was just a coincidence and sent everyone home. She had, of course, offered to let the Doctor stay with her while he was in town. He had taken her up on the offer once she assured him that she had the room and there was no need for him to stay in the TARDIS for the week.

"You're really sure this isn't an imposition?" the Doctor asked as he wandered through her living room, picking up various items, examining them, then putting them back where he'd found them. "I don't want to intrude if you have something to do, or planned to have guests over."

Martha smiled, "You aren't intruding, and I've not been here long enough to have that many friends. Torchwood doesn't really leave much time for meeting new people, and it'll be nice to have someone around who understands my job."

"Surely Jack understands your job."

Martha frowned; this wasn't the first odd thing he'd said tonight about Jack. "Well yes, he does, of course, but he's my boss. I'm talking about friends. Not that Jack isn't a friend. He's a wonderful friend, but I'm talking about someone outside of work."

"So you don't see Jack outside of work, then?"

"Well yes I do, naturally," Martha answered. "We spend a lot of time together. It's hard not to when so few people can even know what you do, let alone understand it."

***

The Doctor set down the picture he was holding. It was of Martha and Tish. Martha had a beautiful apartment. It was full of pictures of the people in her life. There were pictures of her with Leo, her parents, Tish, a picture of the two of them in New New York, there was even a picture of Martha, Rose, and Mickey together. What worried him though were the newer pictures, pictures she had taken from just the last few weeks. Pictures of her with Jack. Jack at the Hub, and at a Rugby game, and one with his arm wrapped tightly around her in a pub. He hated those pictures.

"You have a lot of photographs."

"I do," she admitted. "I love photographs, I love to have something visual to remind me of happy times."

"You seem to have a lot of happy times with Jack," he said, frowning and picking up the photo of them at the rugby match.

"Well, yes. After everything that happened. Them losing Tosh and Owen, and then the Daleks, we all needed more downtime and Jack had never seen a Rugby match before so we all decided to see a game," she said, then moved to stand beside him so she could see the picture as well. "That's, well, you know Jack, Ianto, and Gwen already, and that's Gwen's husband Rhys."

The Doctor eyed the picture carefully. He had met Gwen when they had returned to the hub with the Weevils, and he vaguely remembered her mentioning a husband. In the photo she was standing with her arm wrapped around a man, who the Doctor should've realized was her spouse. Then, next to them, were Ianto, Jack, and Martha. Jack was in the center with an arm wrapped around each of them, Martha leaning heavily against him. He set the picture back down.

"Doctor," Martha said, watching him as he frowned at the picture. "It's been a long day, and if you don't mind I'd really like to turn in. If you don't need anything, of course?"

"No, no, of course, you've had a busy day," he agreed immediately. "You should get some sleep. Don't let me keep you."

"Then just let me show you around," Martha said, yawning. "I really wish we had more time to talk. Maybe tomorrow."

"Fantastic," he agreed. If she planned on spending time catching up with him tomorrow it would be that much less time she had to spend with Jack. It was also that much more time he had to convince her that leaving with him would be a brilliant idea.

***

"Ianto?" Jack said, leaving his office shortly after Martha left with the Doctor and Gwen had left to have dinner with Rhys. "Can I talk to you?"

"Of course, sir," Ianto said, shutting down the monitor he'd been working on and heading toward the stairs and Jack's office. "Did you need something?"

"We need to talk." Ianto's behavior had gotten increasingly strange as the day went on. He'd bordered on rude to the Doctor and had done everything in his power to keep himself from having to work with Martha, each time Jack had suggested he help Martha with some task he'd suggested Jack do it instead. He was subtle trying not to appear unprofessional but nonetheless he did not seem to want to work with their newest recruit and Jack needed to know why.

"Jack?" Ianto raised an eyebrow in question. It wasn't often that Jack called him up here when they were alone to talk. Not that everything revolved around sex with Jack. It didn't. Despite his reputation, Jack was capable of spending time with Ianto without sex being involved, but still, combined with the Doctor's reappearance, Jack just wanting to talk was cause for concern.

Jack motioned him into the office and shut the door. He didn't expect anyone to return but privacy was always good. He also still vividly remembered the one time he didn't close the door and Myfanwy had found her way in and destroyed everything in sight before figuring out how to get back out.

Once they were both seated Jack spoke first, "Is something bothering you? You seem…distracted."

"No, why would I be distracted?"

"I don't know," Jack answered. "But you've been behaving…oddly…today."

"How so?" Ianto asked. Of course he'd been behaving oddly. The Doctor was back and Jack was ready to pack up and leave with him again. He was just waiting for the Doctor to ask.

"You've been moody and bordering on rude to the Doctor, and you've been avoiding Martha," Jack pointed out. "I thought you liked Martha. You always seemed to get along before today."

Ianto frowned. He did like Martha. In fact he loved having her at Torchwood. They got along well. She was certainly a more pleasant medic to have on staff than Owen had been. He hadn't been avoiding her…He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He'd simply wanted to keep Jack away from the Doctor, but that meant pushing Martha to work with Jack quite often today. Of course, Martha…and Jack would see that as his not wanting to be around her.

"I love having Martha here, Jack," he said, "You know that I consider her a friend."

"Then why did you refuse to sit with her at lunch, or take her to find the Weevil, or help her when she examined one?" Jack asked. "It certainly seemed that you didn't want to be alone with her."

"It wasn't Martha and I that I intended to keep apart."

Jack frowned again. He didn't like the wording of that answer. Ianto wasn't angry with Martha which was good, but his answer still implied he had an ulterior motive. "So there's no reason why we need to reconsider hiring Martha."

"No," Ianto said immediately. "Absolutely not. Martha is a wonderful addition to the team."

Jack sat and watched Ianto silently for several moments. He didn't think Ianto was lying, he and Martha had become quite close very quickly and if something had happened to upset him, Jack was sure he'd have known about it. So it was something else. _It wasn't Martha and I that I intended to keep apart,_ If it wasn't that Ianto didn't want to be alone with Martha, and he obviously wasn't concerned about Jack being alone with her since he'd been pushing them together all day, then it must have been…

Was it possible? After everything they'd been through in the last year, could it be that Ianto was trying to keep him away from the Doctor? Okay, so Jack flirted a little, but that wasn't new. He flirted with everyone, and Ianto knew that. He also knew it didn't mean anything. But the odd behaviour started after he'd said the Doctor wanted to meet with him. The more Jack thought about it the more things were falling into place. Ianto insisting on going to lunch, pushing him to work with Martha all day…it all made sense; Ianto was jealous of the Doctor. He really thought Jack would leave him again.

He walked over to Ianto and pulled him from his chair, then kissed him. Ianto had nothing to be insecure about. He didn't want the Doctor anymore and hadn't for some time. But maybe he hadn't made that as clear as he could've to the man he did love. He could do that now, could just call him on his jealousy and tell him he'd never leave him for the Doctor. That would be the right and easy thing to do, just reassure him and everything would be fine. That would work, of course, but it didn't solve the bigger problem of why Ianto didn't just tell him what the problem truly was.

Now that he thought about it, the Doctor's behaviour was very similar to Ianto's. The only difference being he was doing his level best to keep Jack away from Martha. It had taken him a while to work that one out. It had finally occurred to him about the fifth time the Doctor barged in while he and Martha were discussing the current Weevil problems. He had just fluffed it off then as the Doctor wanting Martha to himself. Which in a way he did, but Jack hadn't factored in jealousy. Now the question was how to get both men to admit what was going on.

"We should get to bed," he said, pulling Ianto toward the ladder to his quarters. "The Doctor will be here first thing in the morning."

The Doctor would be here for a week. He needed to talk to Martha about his plan tomorrow. This was going to be a fun seven days.


	4. Chapter 4

**Part Four**

Ianto watched Martha and the Doctor talking quietly as she explained whatever it was she was working on to him from the landing above the medical bay. They'd been locked away in the small room since they had arrived that morning. The Doctor was leaning in close to Martha, looking carefully at what she was pointing to on the computer screen and occasionally asking questions. He hated to interrupt, but Jack had sent him down here for a reason.

"Martha," he said, "Jack says he needs to talk to you about something…important."

"Oh," Martha said, turning around, "Ianto, I didn't hear you come in. What does he need?"

"He didn't say," he admitted, "Just that I should send you to his office for an important meeting and show the Doctor around the archives for a while."

Martha frowned, but turned to the Doctor. "I need to see what Jack wants. Maybe we can get lunch later."

"Work must come first," the Doctor agreed. He wasn't happy with this turn of events but if Jack did need her for something work-related, he couldn't interfere and besides, it would give him more time to get to know Ianto Jones.

Martha finished with the notes she was taking on the tests she'd run on the Weevils overnight and left the bay to find Jack. Ianto walked down the steps and picked up the two coffee mugs on the counter before turning his attention to the Doctor again. "I just need to drop these in the sink and we can go downstairs. Is there anything in particular you'd like to see?"

***

Jack looked up from the papers he was shuffling around his desk and smiled when Martha walked in. "Is the Doctor with Ianto?" he asked.

"Yeah," she responded, returning his smile. "He said you wanted him to show the Doctor the archives."

Jack shrugged, "I don't really care what he shows him, just wanted to make sure neither of them are anywhere near the office." Jack turned to his computer and typed for a second before he found the two men on the CCTV. "Just making sure they're where they're supposed to be."

Martha frowned this time, confused. "Why does it matter where they are?"

"I think I figured out what was going on yesterday with Ianto and the Doctor."

"So did I do something…" She was curious about the Doctor's odd behaviour but at the moment she was really more concerned about why Ianto had seemed so distant. She truly liked him and couldn't think of a single thing she'd done to upset him.

"No," Jack answered, immediately reassuring her. "Ianto adores you. It had nothing to do with you, not for him anyway. The Doctor though…well even that isn't about you, not completely anyway."

"Jack," Martha groaned, "Just tell me. I do have some work to do downstairs and I'd like to have some time to visit with the Doctor if possible."

"Right, sorry. Ianto isn't angry with you; he wasn't trying to avoid you at all. He was trying to keep me away from the Doctor and the only way to do that was to avoid you himself so I'd have to spend time with you."

"He wanted to keep you away from the Doctor?" she asked," Why? The Doctor came all this way to visit you."

"That's exactly why," Jack admitted. "And I don't think the Doctor is here to visit me."

Martha raised an eyebrow in question. None of this was making sense. Ianto didn't want Jack to talk to the Doctor? Did he take the whole 'Torchwood's number one enemy' thing seriously? Surely after seeing what the Doctor did with the Daleks he must realize that he wasn't an enemy. And what did Jack mean the Doctor wasn't here to see him? He'd called him, said he needed to meet with him.

"Do you remember when we first met? What I told you and the Doctor about what happened after he left me behind?"

"You went back too far and had to live through the whole twentieth century, all the time waiting to find him aga…oh, God," she said, her hand covering her mouth in surprise as she realized what had happened back then. "You left Ianto behind to chase after the Doctor, didn't you?"

Jack nodded, and sighed. "I didn't even tell him I was leaving. I heard the TARDIS and I left. Then when I came back I couldn't tell anyone what had happened or where I'd been and…"

"And then you left again when the Doctor needed help," Martha said. All the pieces clicked into place. "He thinks the Doctor is here for you…not to visit, but to take you away."

"Yeah," Jack agreed. "At least I think that's what was going on. He said it wasn't you and him he was trying to keep apart. Which brings me to the Doctor."

"He was with me. How could you have figured out what he wanted?"

"That's really the issue," Jack said, "He said he was here to see me, that he didn't even know you were in Cardiff, and certainly not at Torchwood, but he hasn't spent five minutes alone with me. He's only been interested in you."

"So?"

"I don't think he came to see me," Jack explained. "He knew you were here, Martha. He came to Cardiff for you."

"That's silly," she insisted. "If he came to see me, why not just call me directly and admit he knew I was here?"

"And say what? That he didn't want you here? That he thought you were sleeping with me? That he loves you?"

"You think that's what he's doing? Why he keeps interrupting us all the time?"

"Do you have a better suggestion?" Jack asked.

She shrugged. She didn't, and it all really made sense. Both men had been acting kind of territorial, she thought, remembering the way Ianto had kissed Jack when he and the Doctor came to pick them up after they caught the Weevil. She also thought about all the questions the Doctor had asked about Jack that had seemed odd to her last night. Jealousy made it all so clear, well, not really. Neither man had a reason to be jealous. She wasn't interested in Jack…. not really. Maybe back when she'd first met him, but now they were friends. They'd bonded over their love of the Doctor and over the memories they had that they couldn't share with anyone else. She'd gotten over what had been no more than a crush and Jack had Ianto. Jack loved Ianto, but Martha was pretty sure he didn't tell the other man so often enough.

"So we need to sit them down and talk to them, then?"

"Well," Jack said, leaning back in his chair and grinning at her. "That would be one solution, or we could try something else."

"What did you have in mind?" she asked. She wasn't going to agree to anything without hearing his plan because, knowing Jack, it was going to cause more havoc before eventually reassuring the two men.

***

The Doctor examined the small object in his hand. He hadn't seen anything like it before. He could make guesses about its origin, but he couldn't be sure, nor did he have any idea what it might be used for. He truly did wish he'd been able to be of more help with the unidentified alien tech that Ianto had shown him. "I'm sorry but I've never seen this before."

Ianto shrugged. Jack had suggested seeing if the Doctor could identify anything in their rather large archive of unidentified objects, but so far he'd only been able to help with a few things and make guesses on a few others. "It was worth a try, I suppose," he said with a sigh.

"So, Ianto Jones," the Doctor said, putting the object back in the box it had come from and turning his full attention back to the other man. "Why did Jack offer Martha a job here?"

Ianto frowned, not sure how to answer. Jack had offered her the job because she was good doctor, a friend, and they needed to replace Owen. "After we lost our last medic we needed a new one, and when Jack returned after…when he came back to us, he had Martha with him."

"You didn't wonder why? Where she'd come from?" The Doctor asked. Jack had just shown up with a new employee and no one questioned it. That seemed odd. "Just a complete stranger, out of the blue like that."

"She wasn't a stranger. Martha's helped us out before. Just last year she helped with an investigation."

"Still, that Jack would just hire someone new without talking to you and Gwen, that must have seemed odd."

"Not at all," Ianto answered, "Jack's in charge, hiring is his decision."

The Doctor frowned; this wasn't getting him anywhere. Ianto didn't seem at all surprised or concerned that Jack hired Martha without any notice. Had Jack and Martha seen more of each other than he'd realized before he'd offered her the job? Had they been involved since that year…since Martha had left him behind? But Martha hadn't mentioned that when he they'd travelled together just a few months ago. She'd told him about Tom but never even mentioned Jack. "Martha worked with you before, you said?" The Doctor asked. "Were she and Jack close then?"

Ianto watched the Doctor carefully. He didn't understand all the questions about Martha. Why would did it matter that Jack hired Martha? "They had obviously known each other for some time," Ianto answered slowly, not sure what the Doctor was asking. "They spent a lot of time locked in his office talking."

"A lot of time alone, then?"

Ianto nodded, eyes widening as he caught on to what the Doctor was asking him. The Doctor thought Jack and Martha were…The Doctor was jealous of Martha. That's why he kept interrupting them, and why he was asking all the questions about their relationship. He thought Martha was going to keep Jack away from him. It was an interesting turn of events and he wasn't sure what to do with the information, but for now he decided it was unwise to tell the Doctor he was wrong. "Yes, I had the distinct impression they shared something important that they weren't going to let the rest of us in on." Not a lie exactly. There was definitely something that drew Martha and Jack together and neither of them wanted to discuss it with anyone else; it just wasn't anything sexual or personal. Still, there was nothing wrong with letting the Doctor draw his own conclusions.

***

"They're on their way up," Jack said, glancing at the computer screen.

"Jack are you really sure this is a good idea?" Martha asked. "I don't want Ianto to get hurt, and what if you're wrong about the Doctor? He's never even so much as given me a second glance before and you're so sure he's jealous of you because he…"

"Trust me," Jack answered, walking around the desk to stand near her. "He loves you, even if he doesn't realize it yet. As for Ianto…I won't let him get hurt. I just want him to realize he's the only one I want, that I won't leave him again, and that he should talk to me, not brood, when something's wrong."

She kissed him on the cheek as she wrapped her arms around him in a hug. "If Ianto or the Doctor gets hurt I won't forgive you."

"I wouldn't forgive myself if that happened," he admitted, returning the hug, "I won't let either of them get hurt, I promise. Just remember what I said, get Ianto to do something with you tonight. It doesn't matter what. Play on his feeling guilty about making you think he was mad at you yesterday if you need to."

"I'll do my best."

Downstairs, both Ianto and the Doctor watched the couple upstairs in surprise. The Doctor was amazed that Jack would be so open about his relationship with Martha right here at work, and he realized it was going to be even more difficult than he thought to separate them. While Ianto's eyes were narrowing in suspicion as the surprise wore off. Jack and Martha's hug itself didn't surprise or concern him, really. But Jack had said he needed to discuss work things with Martha, alone. That had been odd in itself, and now they were hugging. That wasn't work-related. Jack was up to something, and Ianto wanted to know what it was. Was he planning on leaving and was telling Martha first? Ianto glanced over at the Doctor with a frown. It was possible, but if Jack had made that decision already, why was the Doctor still concerned about Jack's relationship to Martha? Clearly if he was leaving with the Doctor he'd made a choice…


	5. Chapter 5

**Part Five**

"Do you plan to tell me why we're here?" Ianto asked, setting his empty bottle back on the small table.

He had let Martha talk him into going out with her tonight because she said she hadn't had a much of a chance to get to talk to him alone. She wanted to get to know him better, and that was never going to happen while they were at Hub. At least that's the excuse she had given him, so he'd agreed. He didn't believe her, but he did still feel guilty for his behavior the previous day. Jack had said he had some work to do and would be busy all evening anyway, so he might as well go and enjoy a night out with Martha. So they had dropped the Doctor off at Martha's flat, where he assured both of them he'd be fine alone for one evening and they'd found a small restaurant and then she had suggested the pub, where they'd been for several hours now and while they had chatted and even danced a few times, they hadn't really talked about anything they wouldn't talk about at work.

"I told you," Martha answered, careful to keep from looking at him. She knew if he caught her eye he'd know she was lying. "I just thought it would be nice to get to know each other a little better."

He raised an eyebrow in question. "And you decided this needed to be done tonight, when your friend is in town and staying with you?"

"It's not as if he doesn't know about Torchwood and isn't going to be at work with me every day for the next week."

Martha took a quick drink to hide her nervousness. Ianto was not buying this at all. She was a terrible liar and he wasn't stupid. She was still having trouble wrapping her mind around all of this. She supposed she could see why Ianto would be jealous of the Doctor, but why was the Doctor jealous? It made no sense at all. He didn't love her: he barely even noticed her. However, she'd agreed to help Jack with this little plan of his and she would. He hadn't told her everything though. Ianto and the Doctor would see right through her, he'd said, and he was right. She didn't really know anything and already Ianto was suspicious.

"Any idea what Jack's working on tonight?" Ianto asked.

"Want to dance again?" Martha asked, setting her drink down and standing up.

Ianto set his drink down and stood up to follow her to the dance floor. Something was definitely going on, Martha had this urge to dance every time he asked about Jack. He had known Jack was lying about work, but now he was beginning to wonder what exactly he was doing that had Martha so intent on distracting him and not answering questions.

***

The Doctor mindlessly flipped through the channels on the television, finding nothing he wanted to watch. He rarely had time to watch most of the time anyway and wasn't particularly interested in what he saw when he did. He had hoped to spend the evening with Martha, but she'd suddenly decided she wanted to go out with Ianto and he'd had no choice but agree to stay here by himself. He didn't know how he was ever going to convince her to leave with him if they never had time alone, but at least she wasn't with Jack tonight. Not unless her asking Ianto to dinner had been a distraction so he wouldn't know she was meeting Jack. He frowned when there was a knock at the door. Should he answer? It wasn't as if Martha's friends knew him. But then she'd said she didn't have any friends in Cardiff. Maybe her family had come to visit…but would they travel all this way without calling first?  
"Doctor, it's Jack."

Sighing he got up to open the door. Well, at least if Jack was here it meant that Martha inviting Ianto out wasn't really just a cover for spending the evening with Jack. He pulled the door open to see Jack holding out a bag of takeaway food.

"Thought you might like dinner," Jack said, smiling and holding the bag out toward the Doctor.

"Thanks," the Doctor said, stepping back to allow Jack to pass. "I could've managed. Martha's refrigerator seems well stocked."

"Oh, I know she always keeps plenty on hand, but I wasn't sure you knew how to cook," Jack answered, passing the Doctor and heading toward the small kitchen. He started removing plates and silverware from the cabinets and drawers as he spoke. "And you said you were here to talk to me so I thought this might give us a chance to do that. I was also hoping that maybe I could ask you some advice about a personal matter as well."

Jack bit back a grin when he saw the Doctor standing in the doorway frowning at him. He'd known his familiarity with Martha's kitchen would rile him, though the reason he knew Martha's kitchen was because he and Ianto had spent more than a few evenings here with her. She didn't know anyone else in Cardiff and they'd all been through so much that they'd been leaning heavily on each other for support. Gwen had Rhys, but the three of them really didn't have anyone outside of Torchwood. Martha was the only one of the three with a flat that was appropriate for entertaining. He still lived in the Hub and Ianto's flat was small and rarely stocked with more than the most basic items since he spent so little time there; that only left Martha's place. Of course he wouldn't tell the Doctor any of that. He'd just let him draw his own conclusions for now.

"Personal matter?"

"Well yeah," Jack said, handing a plate to the Doctor before picking up his own and sitting at the small table. He waited for the Doctor to join him before continuing. "I'm involved with someone and I really think I could be in love with them. It's something I haven't let happen in a long time, too hard to watch people you love die…and I'm just not sure what I should…"

"Is it someone I know?" The Doctor asked. He hadn't meant to interrupt but he had to know. It was bad enough when he thought Martha was nothing more than a fling for Jack but if he fancied himself in love with her, he might put up a fight and the Doctor could lose Martha for good.

"Yeah. It's someone from Torchwood," Jack admitted. This was the best part of this plan. He wasn't actually lying to the Doctor at all at this point. He was involved with someone from Torchwood, and he did often wonder if it was smart to allow himself to fall in love with Ianto. "But you came all the way to Cardiff to see me so we should talk about that first."

"No, no," the Doctor insisted, "My reason for calling you wasn't that important. You think you're in love with someone from Torchwood?"

Jack took a bite of his food before responding. He had to tread cautiously here; he didn't want to outright lie to the Doctor so he needed to choose his words carefully, making sure that he was talking about Ianto, while letting the Doctor believe it was Martha. "If you're sure it's nothing important."

"No, really," the Doctor responded. He resisted the urge to just ask outright who Jack was talking about. If Jack wanted to tell him, he would have. "Did you meet through work?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes," Jack answered carefully. "I worked for Torchwood at the time and it was sort of the catalyst for our meeting although we didn't actually meet at Torchwood or on official Torchwood business."

"So you are responsible for bringing them in then? Hiring this person?"

"Oh, absolutely," Jack grinned. "I couldn't resist the chance to have someone so…perfect…around all the time. And they did have skills we needed desperately at the time."

"And you fancy yourself in love with Ma—," the Doctor stopped, and Jack raised an eyebrow in question as he corrected himself. "This person?"

"I never thought it would happen again. I thought I'd learned my lesson long ago," Jack answered, "I always leave before it happens. I avoid close relationships with people but I don't know what happened this time. We've just been through so much, things that no one else could understand and next thing I knew…"

"And you're sure this person returns those feelings?"

Jack shrugged. "I think so. Neither of us talk much about the future, to be honest."

"So there's no one else?" The Doctor asked. "Someone else in their life?"

"No," Jack answered. "There used to be once—someone from London—but that was part of their old life. As much as they loved this other person it's in the past and they've moved on."

The Doctor frowned, absorbing this new information. He'd always known that Martha had a crush on him, but not that it was ever anything more than that. He certainly hadn't realized she'd moved so far beyond that time and considered him and her feelings just a part of her past. Did he still have a chance to change her mind? Could he take her from Jack? Should he bother to try?

Jack bit back another grin at the look on the Doctor's face. He truly didn't want the Doctor be hurt and if it didn't go as planned, if the Doctor didn't speak out and tell Martha how he felt, Jack would tell him the truth. Tell him that this entire conversation had been about Ianto, not Martha. Right now though, the Doctor would be here for six more days so he'd wait to see what happened after giving him a night to sleep on this new development.

"So, what should I do?" Jack asked. "Do I tell them how I feel? Tell them I love them and about my fears about outliving them, or do I just keep things the way they are?"

The Doctor considered the question carefully. One part of him said to tell Jack to walk away, get Martha out of his life, out of Torchwood before he hurt her. The other part of him, the part that was rather insistent on doing the right thing was overruling that other side though. "If you truly love her—this person—tell them. Be honest. I've always walked away, kept my distance, but now I think maybe that was a mistake."

Before Jack could respond, he heard the door opening and Martha calling out for the Doctor. He smiled slightly. Perfect timing, assuming of course she'd managed to get Ianto to come up with her. She'd easily gotten him to agree to drive since she still hadn't had a chance to purchase a car, but now Jack was relying heavily on Ianto's impeccable manners making him walk her to her door rather than just dropping her off.

"We're in here," the Doctor answered as he dropped his plate in the sink and moved to lean out of the small kitchen, waving slightly.

"We?"

"Jack stopped by with dinner."

Martha grinned broadly. "Jack's here?"

Jack set his own plate in the sink and followed the Doctor into the living room. "Right here," he said smiling broadly and moving quickly to give her a light kiss. As he pulled away from her he winked and hugged her tightly. "Just thought the Doctor might need something to eat while you were out with Ianto."

Ianto stood near the door watching the exchange in front of him. Once he tamped down his immediate anger at finding Jack here with the Doctor, suspicion set in. The Doctor didn't look happy; he'd go so far as to say that if looks could kill, even Jack couldn't survive the one he was getting right now. No, the Doctor was not happy with Jack. Did that mean Jack had turned him down? That he wasn't going to leave with him? It was a possibility, but then that scowl had deepened when Jack kissed Martha. While it could still be that the Doctor was jealous of Martha he was beginning to wonder… The Doctor seemed very enamored of Martha. Ianto had also noticed the wink Jack gave her before he hugged her. Something was definitely going on here; he didn't know what but he'd figure it out eventually, and when he did he had no doubt he'd find Jack was firmly in place as the ringleader.

"Hello, sir."

"Ianto," Jack said, smiling but still keeping one arm around Martha's waist. "I didn't think you'd be here."

"Really?" Sure he didn't, Ianto thought. Jack had known he was going to dinner with Martha and knew that she didn't have a car. His mind went back over the events of the last couple days. Today, in particular, seemed strange. Jack had been unusually happy all morning, a fact Ianto had jealously dismissed as a result of the Doctor's presence. He'd also had the 'work-related' meeting with Martha for quite some time in his office. A meeting that he didn't feel either Gwen or Ianto needed to be a part of, and there were no immediate cases, particularly medical ones they were dealing with. Jack had also been hugging and just generally touching Martha more than usual today. And then of course, Martha's sudden interest in getting to know Ianto better, and her obviously avoiding his questions when he asked about the meeting or about Jack's evening plans.

The part of Ianto that was insanely jealous of the Doctor was saying that Jack was trying to distract him from the Doctor by making him jealous of Martha. The rational side though, and that was the side that usually won out with him, knew that Jack was genuinely concerned about him being angry with Martha, and it was unlikely he'd use Martha in such a stupid ploy. After all, if Jack wanted to leave, Ianto couldn't stop him anyway. That rational part also knew Jack was up to something and seemed to have pulled Martha into it. He just wasn't sure what that something was yet.

"Well, then," the Doctor said, pulling Ianto from his thoughts, "It's very late."

"He's right," Martha agreed and pulled away from Jack. "If I'm going to make it to work on time it's really time to turn in."

"Right." Jack leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. "You're boss is impossible to deal with when people are late."

Everyone said their good-byes and Jack and Ianto left, pulling the door closed behind them. When they reached their cars Jack asked, "Are you coming back to the hub?"

Ianto shrugged. "Not tonight," he answered. "There's some things I need to do at my flat."

Jack kissed him quickly and said he'd see him in the morning before getting into the SUV and driving away.

Ianto watched him leave. He'd planned on returning to the hub tonight but Ianto was definitely beginning to think that the Doctor might not be the problem he'd thought he was…Jack on the other hand…Ianto definitely needed some time alone to think about what was going on and what exactly he should do about it.


	6. Chapter 6

bPart 6/b

"Good Morning!"

Martha wrinkled her nose and frowned at the Doctor. "You're awfully cheerful this morning," she said as he handed her a coffee mug.

"Why shouldn't I be?" he asked. "It's a beautiful day."

"Because it's six in the morning," she sighed, sitting at the table and pulling the plate of toast he had set in front of her closer. "No one should be happy this early in the morning."

"It's just that I have some wonderful news," he said, then hesitated, "At least I hope you think it's wonderful. I suppose you may be angry."

Martha looked up from her breakfast and frowned at the concerned look on his face. "What news?"

"Ianto called while you were in the shower. He said to tell you that you could have the day off to spend time visiting with me. Said there was very little rift activity and Jack had agreed that it wouldn't hurt for you to spend the day sightseeing."

"Sightseeing, huh?"

The Doctor frowned now; he had hoped Martha would be happy about not having to go to work. That's why he had called Torchwood this morning and made arrangements with Ianto for her to have the day off. Ianto had been happy to help him and Jack had thought it a splendid idea for the two of them to spend the day visiting the sights. After all, he was rarely able to see city the way everyone else did; this would be interesting.

"I'm sure we can call him back and tell Jack you'd rather come in if you'd prefer…"

"No, no," she answered, smiling at him. "It's a wonderful idea. If Jack's sure I'm not needed then this'll be fun. I've not seen many of the sights though.

"Fantastic! Seeing Cardiff will be a new experience for me as well."

"I'm sure you've been here dozens of times."

"Well yes, of course I have," he agreed. "But I've never seen it properly. I've been here to refuel, or landed here in the middle of one alien crisis or another, but never just to see Cardiff Castle…not unless it was being attacked by aliens anyway."

"Okay," Martha stood up and hugged him, "Then sightseeing it is today. I'm going to go change clothes. If I don't have to work, I don't need to wear this. Why don't you make a list of things we should see today?"

***

"You're sure you don't mind that I told the Doctor that Martha could have today off?" Ianto asked from the doorway of Jack's office.

"Not at all," he said, looking up from the paperwork he'd been signing. "You were absolutely right, there is almost no rift activity today. The most we might have to deal with is a weevil or two and we can do that on our own. Why would I mind?"

Ianto shrugged. He'd done a lot of thinking after his night out with Martha and he had realized he was wrong about a few things. Jack wasn't leaving him for the Doctor; he wasn't sure that the Doctor had even come to see Jack at all. Jack wasn't using Martha to distract him from suspecting anything with the Doctor, but he was playing a game and he had dragged Martha into it. It had finally occurred to him last night that it had been more than a year since Jack had seemed obsessed with the Doctor. Sure, he'd left them a few months ago to help him, but that had been different. The planet had been stolen and while only the Doctor could fix it, he needed help. This time he'd come back right away. He hadn't stayed with the Doctor at all; they'd stopped the Daleks and Jack had returned.

It had also occurred to Ianto that the Doctor had never shown up in Cardiff to visit Jack before. Even the time Jack had disappeared the Doctor hadn't come to see Jack. He'd seen the CCTV footage; the Doctor hadn't even known Jack was there when the TARDIS disappeared and he hadn't shown up in Cardiff or sought Jack out until Martha arrived. All of this thinking led to Ianto's realization that the Doctor had shown much more interest in Martha since arriving than he had Jack. In fact, now that he put it all together, his questions had all been leading toward finding out if Jack and Martha were involved…not if Jack was available, as he'd thought originally.

The Doctor was here for Martha, not Jack. Ianto strongly suspected Jack had figured that out already. He had also most likely figured out Ianto's own behavior, and was now just having fun at their expense. But while confronting Jack had been an option he'd briefly considered, he dismissed it. Jack had started this game, okay, but Ianto could play it too.

"Oh, I just thought maybe you wanted to spend time with the Doctor yourself," Ianto suggested. "After all, he did come to visit you, not Martha."

Jack smiled. "That's okay. I'm sure there will be plenty of time for me to visit with him."

"Right," Ianto agreed. "You did seem to find the time last night after claiming you would be busy with work."

Jack looked back up in time to see Ianto walking down the stairs to the main part of the Hub. Had he gone too far? Ianto wasn't supposed to be hurt by this. He just wanted him to admit he was worried and why, and Jack wanted the Doctor to admit his feelings for Martha. What if he had screwed this up and Ianto's jealousy was more serious than he'd thought? He watched Ianto make his way over to Gwen's desk where the two of them were then began talking quietly.

***

"So Martha, where to next?" The Doctor asked as he and Martha walked arm in arm down the street.

"Well we did all the things Gwen suggested already, and it's getting kind of late," Martha pointed out, "Dinner?"

The Doctor smiled and said, "Where should we go, then?" Today had been a wonderful day for him. Gwen had given them quite a list of sights to see in and around Cardiff and they'd spent the day at museums and shopping and generally enjoying themselves. It had been a very long time since he'd had such a relaxing day with anyone; no alien attacks, no Cybermen, or Daleks, just visiting the sites of a city he'd been to countless times yet had never really seen.

"I know the perfect restaurant. Jack wanted us to go there once but then something fell through the rift and we never did make it."

The Doctor frowned but nodded his agreement. As much as he didn't want to go to places that reminded her of Jack, he didn't have a valid argument against it either. He also didn't want to spoil the wonderful day they'd been having, so he followed her as she navigated her way through the streets toward the restaurant she was looking for. It didn't take long before they'd found the place and were seated at a table, talking in low voices, but at some length. He was impressed by how fast she'd moved up the ranks at UNIT and told her as much.

"That was because of you. I know you got me that job," Martha said.

"Nonsense," he argued, "I may have dropped some hints in the right places to get you in the door but you must have really impressed them to move up as quickly as you did. I did nothing to help you with that."

Before Martha could answer, the waiter appeared at the table to take their orders. They both quickly ordered and when he walked away Martha turned her attention back to the Doctor. "So, you've been here three days now and we still don't know why you wanted to see Jack. Or did you talk to him about it last night?"

The Doctor frowned slightly; he still hadn't really come up with an excuse for calling Jack. Maybe he should just tell Martha the truth. He knew that was probably the best way to go but instead he avoided the question. He couldn't tell her until he knew how she felt about Jack, especially since he knew how Jack felt about her. "What I don't understand is why you left UNIT for Torchwood. You were doing so well."

Martha sighed softly at the not so subtle change of subject. She was really starting to believe Jack was right: The Doctor hadn't come here to see him; he'd come for her, and he was jealous. "I liked my job at UNIT. I did. I just…I don't know how to explain it. UNIT is so big, so many people. I was simply another soldier in a war there and I wanted more than that. Working with Jack, I am more. I feel more like I make a difference. And I missed working with people I care about."

"How did Tom feel about you changing jobs?"

"Well, Tom knows of course, but," Martha said, trying to explain the changes in her life since she'd last seen the Doctor. "We're not together anymore."

"What happened?" The Doctor asked.

"It's just, I was lying to him all the time," Martha admitted. "Not like I could just tell him that my job was keeping the world safe from aliens, could I? It's hard to make things work when you can't be honest, and in the end it was too much, with the separations because of travel for both us and lying to him about everything all the time. I need someone who understands what I do, who would even believe what I do."

"So Jack…"

The waiter returned to the table, setting plates in front of them. Martha bit back a small grin; he really did think she was with Jack, and her explanation of why she'd left Tom seemed to just solidify that in his mind. She hadn't done it intentionally but she had inadvertently advanced Jack's plan of encouraging the Doctor's jealousy so he'd admit his real reason for being in Cardiff, even if she didn't completely believe it was because of her. "Well yes of course, Jack would understand what I do, but…" she hesitated. She had agreed to go along with Jack's plan but she hated lying to anyone, and especially the Doctor. She'd been in love with him for so long; she couldn't help but worry that this plan would backfire and she'd never see him again.

The Doctor interrupted her, having decided it was best to just tell her what Jack and said and see how she reacted. Maybe he had it all wrong and she didn't feel the same way Jack did. It was possible he'd overestimated Jack's charm. "Jack and I had an interesting talk last night, you know."

"Really?" Martha said, raising an eyebrow. She really had no idea what Jack had said to him while she was out with Ianto. "What about?"

"He fancies himself in love."

"Who with?" Martha asked, smiling.

"He wouldn't say," the Doctor explained, "Just that it's someone he hired at Torchwood. Someone he hadn't really intended to feel this way about but he does and doesn't know what to do about it."

Martha's smile grew even wider. She knew what Jack was trying to lead the Doctor to believe, and obviously the Doctor had fallen for it, but she was sure Jack had been more honest with the Doctor about his feelings than he'd been with anyone, including Ianto. She saw the Doctor frown and said, "Well, Jack really hired us all so it could be anyone, I suppose."

"You think so?" The Doctor asked. "There isn't anyone in particular he seems to favor?"

Now it was time for Martha to try to play into Jack's plan and see what the Doctor's response would be, but she'd do so without lying to him. She'd made that clear to Jack from the beginning. She wouldn't outright lie to the Doctor. "There is, but I honestly didn't think Jack would ever admit it was anything serious. I'm glad he has, though."

"So," the Doctor said, trying to hide his disappointment. "You agree with him? You feel the same?"

"Feel the same as Jack?" Martha asked. "Lord, no. Well, I do feel the same, but not about Jack. There's someone else…."


	7. Chapter 7

**bPart Seven/b**

_Jack smiled. "That's okay. I'm sure there will be plenty of time for me to visit with him."_

"Right," Ianto agreed. "You did seem to find the time last night after claiming you would be busy with work." 

center***/center

Ianto could feel Jack's eyes on his back as he talked to Gwen about her plans for the evening. He didn't turn around, didn't acknowledge Jack watching him at all. Let him think he was angry about finding him at Martha's with the Doctor. He was angry, just not for the reasons Jack thought. Maybe his jealousy was unfounded this time, but that didn't mean Jack should play with his feelings.

"Why is Jack staring at us?" Gwen asked, glancing up at the office above them.

"He thinks I'm angry with him."

"Are you?"

Ianto smiled slightly. "Not really. Not in the way he thinks. But I'm not telling him that just yet."

Gwen frowned. Something was going on with Jack, Ianto, and Martha but she couldn't it figure out. "What did he do?"

"I like that you just assume Jack's done something wrong."

"Well, you're obviously upset with him, so it seems likely…"

"He's being Jack," Ianto explained. "Nothing we won't get past eventually but he's playing games, and not the fun kind."

"Ianto," Jack said, coming down the steps and interrupting before Gwen could answer.

"Sir?"

"What you said earlier about me and the Doctor," Jack said hesitantly. "You know that I didn't…that I was just taking him dinner and we talked. We didn't…"

"Do you really wish to have this conversation in front of Gwen, Jack?" Ianto asked, nodding toward Gwen who had stopped any pretense of working and was now focused solely on the pair next to her.

"Don't mind me," she said, grinning at them.

"I don't care if she hears us or not," Jack said. "I'm more interested in what you think happened last night."

"I think," Ianto said slowly, "that you coerced Martha into getting me to take her to dinner so that you could spend time alone with the Doctor. Isn't that what happened?"

"Well, yes," Jack said slowly. That was exactly what had happened. "But the Doctor and I just talked. I only wanted to talk to him. You believe that don't you?"

Ianto bit back a smile. "You believed you were in love with the Doctor for more than a hundred years, and now he's shown up just to see you, I can understand how you might…"

Jack frowned. He wasn't sure what to do now. This is what he had wanted, right? To encourage Ianto's jealousy? Just a few days ago he'd found it funny that Ianto was afraid he would leave him for the Doctor. He'd come up with this brilliant plan to make him more jealous. Jack had thought just the idea that he'd leave Ianto for the Doctor had been hilarious. But now, none of this was funny anymore; he was hurt. He believed Jack was going to leave him. It wasn't funny longer.

"I don't want to…" Jack took a deep breath before continuing. "Ianto, I'm not leaving with the Doctor."

Ianto bit his lip to hide a slight smile. Jack was falling right into this. "I know. I figured it out last night, Jack. The Doctor isn't here for you, is he? He's here for Martha. That's why you went there last night, to convince him to take you, not her."

"No," Jack said quickly. "That's not it at all. Yes he's here for Martha but…"

"I just wish you'd be honest with me, sir," Ianto said, walking past Jack toward the archives. "It's not as if I haven't always known I was simply a substitute for him."

Jack stared, mouth open to protest as Ianto walked away. None of this was supposed to happen. Ianto was supposed to get angry, supposed to yell at him, tell him not to leave. He was supposed to admit he was jealous. Jack was going to reassure him and tell him about Martha and the Doctor and they'd laugh and…now what was he going to do?

"You've really done it this time, Jack," Gwen said, pulling Jack out of his thoughts.

"What?"

"How long did you think you could lead Ianto on? Take him for granted, while you waited for your Doctor to come back for you?"

"That's not what…" Jack stopped. What was the point? He had taken Ianto for granted for a long time and now he was paying for it. If he'd been more honest with Ianto, told him it wasn't only sex, for him then none of this would be happening now. "I'll be in my office."

Gwen watched Jack storm back into his office and slam the door closed. Ianto was a genius really. As soon as the argument started she'd realized what Ianto had been talking about before Jack had interrupted. She shut down her computer and headed in the direction Ianto had left in a few minutes ago. She wanted to know what he planned; and if she could do anything to help him she would. It was about time Jack admitted his feelings for Ianto, even if Ianto really already knew without the words.

center***/center

"Ianto?" Gwen called, knocking on the door which was slightly ajar. "Can I come in?"

"Yes," he answered without turning around. His shoulders shaking slightly.

"Are you okay?" she asked, suddenly worried she had misjudged the situation upstairs.

"Fine," he said, trying to control his laughter. "Are you alone?"

"Jack's upstairs in his office, brooding."

"Good." Ianto turned and looked at Gwen, a smile on his face. Jack deserved to be upset. He'd tell him soon, tell him he knew, but not now. Let him worry for a while.

"How long are you going to leave him up there?"

Ianto cocked his head and looked at her. She didn't seem concerned that Ianto was upset, or that Jack was upset. "You aren't worried about him leaving?"

"No, and neither are you," she pointed out. "You know he doesn't want the Doctor anymore. He wants you."

He laughed and hugged her tightly. "I do know that. I admit I was…worried…when the Doctor first arrived but you're right, Jack isn't going to leave me for him. The Doctor doesn't even want him, he wants Martha."

"So, care to explain what's going on? And can I help?"

Ianto quickly explained what he knew and what he suspected Jack had been doing for the last few days. "But no, nothing you can do to help. I'll leave him up there for a few hours then I'll go talk to him."

center***/center

Jack looked at his watch and sighed. Ianto still hadn't come out of the archives and Jack still didn't know what to do about the problems he'd caused. He didn't know how to fix this. If it was an alien he'd kill it, but this—emotions, feelings—he didn't know how to handle it. He was out of practice. When you live forever you learn not to admit strong emotions to anyone, not even yourself. He did love Ianto; he'd known that for a long time. He thought Ianto knew too, but maybe he'd been wrong. Maybe he did live in fear that Jack would leave if the Doctor asked him. And now the Doctor was here and Ianto was locked down in the archives avoiding him.

He reached for the phone and dialed Martha's number; maybe they should call this off and just confront both men. Make the Doctor admit how he felt about Martha, and Jack could come clean with Ianto. Maybe it wasn't too late to have a happy ending.

"Hello?"

"Martha, we need to talk?"

"Now? I'm at dinner, Jack."

"Just listen then," he said. "I screwed up. Ianto is hurt, he thinks…well he thinks what I wanted him to think but he's not angry. He's hurt and that wasn't supposed to happen. We need to tell them the truth. We need to fix this."

"No, not yet," Martha said. "I can't tell him now. You do what you have to do on your end though."

"Martha, I can't keep doing this to Ianto. It was never supposed to hurt him. I love him."

"I know that. And you should take care of that. But I'm not ready." Martha hung up the phone and left Jack in silence.

"Now what the hell am I going to do?" Jack said to the empty room.

"What you should've done in the first place," Ianto said quietly from the doorway. "Be honest with me."

Jack spun his chair around to face him. "How much did you hear?"

"Enough to know I was right."

"About what?" Jack asked as Ianto walked over and sat on the edge of the desk.

"You liked that I was jealous of the Doctor," Ianto said. "You knew I was worried you were going to leave me and decided to play this…game. To make me more jealous, more possessive, more...I really don't know what you were trying for but you liked me feeling that way. Why?"

"Because it was a side of you I've never seen," Jack admitted. "I flirt all the time, with everyone and you never seem to notice, and you certainly don't appear concerned, but the Doctor showed up and suddenly you were so possessive and jealous. I liked it, you're right. I liked that sign that you loved me."

"Of course I love you, Jack," Ianto admitted. "I'm not concerned when you flirt because it's who you are. If you didn't flirt you wouldn't be you, and I want you. The Doctor though, it isn't just flirting, it's—You spent a century searching for him. If anyone could take you away from me it's him."

"No, he couldn't," Jack said, kissing Ianto softly. "No one can take me from you."

"He did once."

"That was a long time ago," Jack said, "And I came back. For you. The entire time I was gone I kept thinking about you, about coming back for you. Surviving to be with you again."

"Would it have been so hard to tell me that before?" Ianto asked.

"Before the Doctor showed up?" Jack asked, "Or before as in a year ago when everything was okay?"

"Either," Ianto answered. "Both?"

"I should've told you as soon as I realized you were worried about the Doctor," Jack said. "I should've told you that I loved you and wouldn't leave you. I should've told you the Doctor was here for Martha."

"And a year ago?" Ianto asked. Part of him knew he shouldn't push but another part wanted to know why Jack refused to voice his feelings. He wouldn't say he hid them, because he didn't. Jack did things every day that told Ianto how much he cared. But words were important too.

Jack sighed and leaned back in his chair, explaining this was going to be difficult but Ianto deserved an answer. "I'm never going to die. Or at least not stay that way."

"I know that."

"Do you want to hear this or not?" Jack waited for Ianto to nod before he continued. "You are going to die. So will Gwen, Martha, and everyone else I care about. For the last century I've watched everyone in my life die. Once, in the beginning, I let myself care. I was married and we were happy at first. Time passed though. She grew older, I didn't. She got sick. Nothing exceptional, just old age, but I had to watch her die. It was the hardest thing I've ever done. After that, I stopped letting myself love anyone. Or at least stopped admitting I loved anyone. If I didn't admit to myself or to them, it was easier because eventually everyone walked away and I didn't have to watch them die."

"Jack, I…"

"Things changed though. I fell in love with you and tried to deny it. But then that year, I know you don't remember it, but it was the worst year of my life. You kept me going, getting back to you was all that mattered to me. I couldn't lie to myself anymore."

"That's why you wanted to go on a proper date?"

"Yeah, which we never did manage to do," Jack admitted smiling.

"Can we promise no more lies, Jack?" Ianto asked. "I understand why you want to hold everyone away from you, but it's too late. I love you, and I'm not leaving."

"I know, and I don't think I could bear you walking out now anyway."

"So the Doctor loves Martha, then?" Ianto asked changing the subject. He was aware this wasn't a conversation Jack wanted to have, or was comfortable with and he wouldn't pressure him anymore tonight.

"Yeah," Jack said. "He's here for her, not me."

"Right. Does Martha know?"

"She thinks I'm wrong, or did last night," Jack said. "But after that call it's possible something has changed."

center***/center

Martha dropped her mobile phone back into her purse. "Sorry, work problem."

"Did you need to go in?"

"No, not at all. They'll work it all out."

"So you were saying that you do have feelings for someone else," the Doctor said, "But not Jack?"

"Yeah, and the one I have feelings for just doesn't seem to realize I exist."

tbc


	8. Chapter 8

b**Part Eight**/b

The Doctor paced the floor of the dark kitchen, tea forgotten on the counter. His mind couldn't stop replaying Martha's earlier words.

_i__"There is, but I honestly didn't think Jack would ever admit it was anything serious. I'm glad he has, though."_

"So," the Doctor said, trying to hide his disappointment. "You agree with him? You feel the same?"

"Feel the same as Jack?" Martha asked. "Lord, no. Well, I do feel the same, but not about Jack. There's someone else…."/i

At first he'd been elated that she didn't love Jack. She wasn't with Tom anymore and she wasn't with Jack. He could tell her how he felt and convince her to go with him; it would be easy now. It was just her job standing in her way. Then he realized she said there was someone else; it just wasn't Jack.

Who was it? Did he feel the same way? She said she didn't know anyone in Cardiff, outside of Torchwood. That meant it had to be…but surely that wasn't right, was it? He had barely spoken to Martha in the few days the Doctor had been in town. Who else could it be, though? The Doctor let out a sigh. It would be easier if Martha didn't have feelings for anyone, but at least he felt more confident now that he knew her reason for taking this job was Ianto Jones, not Jack.

Was it right though? Should he even try to take her away from this? Even more than Jack, Ianto could give Martha a chance at a normal human life. The Doctor could give her time travel, and adventure, and the universe, but he'd never be able to give her human things like a house or children. He couldn't do that. He couldn't even give her someone to grow old with. Should he even tell her how he felt?

"Doctor? Is everything all right?"

He turned, startled, at the sound of her voice behind him. "Fantastic. Everything's fine. What are you doing up?"

"Heard you moving around, thought something might be wrong," Martha said, pulling her robe tighter around her.

He frowned. He hadn't meant to disturb her sleep. "Sorry. I didn't realize I was making that much noise."

Martha smiled. "You weren't. I guess I wasn't sleeping all that well either. More tea?"

He nodded and watched as she moved to the counter and began preparing more tea for both of them. He sat at the table and waited in silence, trying to sort out what he wanted to do about this entire situation.

Martha was lost in her own thoughts. It had taken a great deal of effort to not just tell the Doctor she still loved him; that had never changed. She wanted to tell him, yet part of her was still so afraid that she was reading the signs wrong. Afraid that Jack was wrong, that the Doctor didn't feel any differently than he had the day she had walked away from the TARDIS. It had broken her heart to do it that day, but she had made the right choice; she was sure of it. She just didn't know if she could do it again. If he was still in love with Rose, she wasn't willing to wait for a man who would never love her.

She set a mug in front of the Doctor as she took a seat across from him. "So, why are you up so late?" she asked.

"Just thinking," he answered. "Can't sleep when something's on my mind."

"Want to talk about it? Sometimes it's easier to think it through out loud."

"I don't know if I can compete with Ianto Jones," the Doctor blurted out quickly. "Or if I even should."

Martha stared in silence. She wasn't sure what to say. What exactly was he competing with Ianto for? Then her eyes widened as the Doctor continued.

"I know he can give you all the things you probably want. He's human and can give you a normal life with a house and kids, and…do you want a dog? He can probably give you that. But is that really want you want? To just stay here on Earth? In the current time? You used to want adventure and travel and…" The Doctor's voice trailed off as Martha started laughing. "What's so funny?"

"You," Martha said, trying to stifle her laughter. "Me, this. It's all just too much."

"Martha…"

"I'm sorry, Doctor. It's just…you think I'm in love with Ianto?"

"Well yes," he answered slowly. "You said you weren't in love with Jack, so I…"

"And you just automatically jumped to the conclusion that it must be Ianto?"

"You did say you didn't really know anyone outside of Torchwood."

"I did say that, but," Martha began then stopped. Did she really want to tell him this? There was still a chance that Jack was wrong. She needed to be sure first. "Doctor, why are you here? Really here? Don't tell me to visit Jack. We both know that's not true."

He just stared for several moments without speaking. Normally he was in favor of honesty, but this was all new to him; honesty could backfire. She didn't seem to be in love with Ianto or Jack but she had said there was someone else and he still didn't know who it was. However, if he lied to her again, he may not have another chance.

"I came here to get you out of Torchwood," he said as quickly as he could.

"Why?" Martha asked, frowning. "Why wouldn't you want me to work here? They're doing good things now. It's not like Torchwood One."

"It wasn't Torchwood," he admitted. "I wanted you away from Jack. I wanted you to come with me again."

Deciding to make the Doctor admit everything to her, not to give him an easy way out, she continued to pretend she didn't know what he was talking about. "Away from Jack? Why? He's the reason Torchwood is doing good things now. He's the one that has changed things here. And why do you want me to come with you? I thought you were fine travelling alone."

"I thought you switched jobs because you and Jack were…I thought—I knew you'd liked him and Jack is, well Jack and I didn't want him to hurt you. I am fine travelling alone, but it's lonely. Donna's gone now and I've had more time to think about things and I realized something I should've seen before."

"What did you realize?" She prompted.

"When you and I were travelling together, I…" He hesitated. He knew what he was about to say was true; he'd just never admitted it out loud before. Somehow, saying it to her, admitting it, made it more real and made him feel even worse. "I treated you badly. I knew you, well, I knew you had a bit of a crush on me and I didn't have the decency to ignore it. I threw Rose at you every chance I could, hoping you'd just…stop. But you didn't. You didn't stop caring for me, so I just tried to pretend I wasn't hurting you, that we really were just mates, that you didn't want anything else from me."

"I wanted more," she said quietly. "But I couldn't and wouldn't compete with Rose."

"And you shouldn't have to," he said. "You were right to leave me. You're a smart, beautiful woman and you shouldn't have to wait be second to anyone. I was just a little slow to see that."

"What are you saying, Doctor?" Martha had to hear him say it.

I—" He stopped again. This was all so much harder than he realized. He hadn't even wanted to admit any of this to himself now he had to admit it to her. "I should've let go of Rose a long time ago. I sent her away, left her in another world, twice now. I did love Rose. I won't lie to you and say I never did, but I can't hold on to that forever. After you left I realized that I…that I loved you as well. I was an idiot for waiting until you were gone to realize it. Then I didn't have the courage to call and tell you and by the time you called me, you had Tom. I had lost you and I didn't want to hurt you by telling you and now you have Jack or Ianto or whoever this person you have feelings for is and I'm not going to stand in the way of your having the life you want."

"I am not in love with Jack or Ianto," Martha admitted. "Never was. And they aren't in love with me. There is no other man."

"At dinner you said…"

"There was someone else, and there is," Martha said. "And he apparently still doesn't realize it."

The Doctor's eyes widened as he realized what she was saying.

Martha smiled slightly as she realized the Doctor was finally understanding. "However, I still can't go away with you."

"Why not?" he asked. "I am the someone else, right?"

"You are," she said, smiling. "But I have a job, one that I love. One that I'm needed for right now. I can't just go in tomorrow and tell Jack I'm leaving and leave him without a medic again."

"I could have you back within hours," the Doctor said, "He'd never know you were gone."

"Doctor, no," she said. "It's not right. I want to go with you again, I do. Especially now. But I can't do that Jack, Gwen, and Ianto. They need a doctor on staff."

"If we find them another doctor, then you'd…"

"Yes, as soon as Jack finds a replacement, I'd love to go with you again."

The Doctor grinned. "We'll have to start on that first thing tomorrow then. So, if Jack isn't in love with you, what was all of his talk the other day about being in love with you?"

"Well," she admitted with a smile, "Jack actually figured out what was going on that first day. But did he actually say he was in love with me?"

"Well yes, he said…" His voice trailed off as he remembered the conversation. "No, no he didn't, I suppose."

"He was talking about Ianto."

"Jack and…"

"Yep," she smiled, "And apparently they've worked out their problems tonight as well. You'll find Ianto much friendly toward you in the morning. Now that he knows you aren't here to take Jack away."

"I must say I'm glad it's all working out for everyone then," he said, smiling. "I really hadn't believed I had a chance to win you away from Jack. You have work in the morning. You should probably get some sleep."

She glanced at the clock on the wall. It was nearly time to get up for work. "No point now. Why don't we get dressed and we can go out and grab breakfast on the way in to talk to Jack. We do want to get started on finding that new medic right way."

"Right, breakfast sounds wonderful," he said, grabbing the two mugs and taking them to the sink as she left to shower and change to her work clothes. Things had turned out wonderfully; he would help Jack find the perfect medic and Martha would be with him again. It was all working out so much better than his original kidnapping plan.

tbc


	9. Epilogue

b**Epilogue**/b

"You sure you want to go? It's not too late to change your mind and stay with us," Jack said.

"Jack," the Doctor warned. "Don't start."

"I have to at least try," Jack responded. "I'm losing a beautiful, talented medic. I have to make an effort to keep her."

"You've already found a new medic, Jack," Martha said. "And it isn't as if I can't visit."

"That's right," Ianto agreed, "Now that everything's been sorted, they can visit often."

Jack grinned and ignored the pointed look from both Ianto and the Doctor. He shouldn't have tried to play games with their feelings and he'd heard enough about it in the last few weeks to last a lifetime. His lifetime. "So we should expect to see you both at least every weekend, right?"

"Jack!" All three shouted at once.

"All right," he said, raising his hands in surrender. "As often as you can manage."

"We'll have to stop by to refuel occasionally," the Doctor said. "We'll definitely stop in then."

"So every ten years or so, then?" Ianto asked.

"More than that," Martha assured him. She reached in her pocket and handed him her mobile phone. "And this belongs to Torchwood."

"Keep it," Ianto said, pushing it back toward her. "This way we can call you if you don't come back like you promised."

"That's right," Jack agreed. He turned to the Doctor, "You're going to fix it so we can call, right?"

"Absolutely," he agreed. He took the phone and pulled out his sonic screwdriver.

"Unless," Jack said, "We could always find something for you to do here, as well."

"I can't stay here," the Doctor said, "I need to be out there."

"And I need to be with him."

"At least he's finally realized that," Jack answered.

"You could come with us," Martha suggested. She saw Ianto's frown and added, "Both of you."

"No, someone needs to stay here and keep the Rift safe," Jack answered. "And if I leave, the Doctor is likely to become Torchwood's number one enemy again."

"Well, then we really do need to be going," the Doctor said. "And Martha is right, you are both welcome any time you want to join us."

"We'll keep that in mind," Jack said, reaching out to hug first the Doctor and then Martha. He then added, "And remember to visit a lot. I want it to be like you never left."

Martha returned Jack's hug and turned to Ianto, "I'm going to miss you," she said quietly and hugged him tightly.

Jack and Ianto watched as the other couple stepped into the TARDIS and it disappeared into the darkness of the alley.

"Ready?" Jack asked, "We do need to get back and train our new medic."

"Let's go," Ianto agreed, and they started walking back toward the street and the SUV. He watched Jack as he pulled out his mobile and stared at it. "They've been gone two minutes, you can't miss her already."

"No, it's just that…" Jack hesitated. It wasn't that he wanted to leave with the Doctor, not really. He did miss the adventure of traveling through space and time, but he couldn't imagine leaving Ianto behind. "You've never seen anything out there, not really. You've seen what comes through the Rift but not what it's really like."

"Jack," Ianto said slowly, stopping and turning to look at him. "I may understand that you don't want to leave me for the Doctor. I may even be willing to have him visit often if it means we get to see more of Martha, but we are not going on holiday with him. Not ever."

"Ianto…"

"No," Ianto said simply and started walking, ignoring Jack's pleas as he followed behind. "Not ever."

"Not even to see Martha?"

"No."

center***/center

"You invited them to come with us," the Doctor said as he moved around the console, checking the various settings.

"You didn't object."

"Well, even I'm not rude enough to say no after you've invited them," the Doctor said. "So, Martha Jones, where do you want to go first?"

"I don't know…." Martha said, "Someplace romantic, that has no chance of a hostile takeover by some other alien."

"I think we can do that," the Doctor agreed and began moving around the console again. Now that he had Martha back for good there were so many places he wanted to show her, places that he should've shown her long ago, if he had just paid attention instead of being stuck in his own past.

The end.


End file.
